Day 10: Berlin

Today started out on a very serious note, with a very historical site, and ended on a very fun note.
We walked from our apartment this morning to see the Berlin Wall Memorial / Historical Site at Bernauerstraße. Our walk intentionally took us through Mauer Park, which is a park that was built in the former death strip (the area between the inner and outer wall where the East German soldiers were on Schießbefehl, or command to shoot). Although the boys played for a while on a climbing structure, we couldn't help but feel a bit uncomfortable as we looked up and down the park.

The Gedenkstätte (Memorial) at Bernauerstraße is really incredible.

It goes on for four blocks, with markers to show where the wall used to be and in many areas has sections pieces of the original inner and outer walls. To view the memorial, you walk along the former death strip area. There is a tremendous amount of information at this memorial in the form of signs, recorded interviews and videos.

One of the pieces that we found particularly interesting was the marking for tunnels that had been dug under the wall as a means of escape for East Germans. There were several such tunnels just in the four block area - people were desperate to get their loved ones out of East Germany.











 

Another particularly interesting part of the memorial was the marking of the outline of buildings that had been crossed through by the wall. There was a display with the foundation of one of these houses, so you could really get the sense of what it would have been like.








At the very end of the memorial site, there was a section with both walls preserved, including a watch tower. Adjacent to this section is a tower that you can climb up so that you can look down and see both walls and you can see into the death strip. Although we have seen hundreds of images of the wall and the death strip, there is something about seeing it first hand that is particularly powerful. And even after visiting this memorial, it still seems impossible that this piece of German history could have actually happened.

It was a pretty emotionally heavy morning, both for us and for the boys. We spent the afternoon at a pretty impressive indoor water park and spa, Tropical Islands. It was about 45 minutes by train outside of Berlin and was quite crowded with Germans who were escaping the cold, rainy weather. We were able to swim in a few different pools, go on the four giant water slides and visit the spa / sauna area.

The boys loved the pools and the slides. I think we are all completely tired out and will sleep well tonight!